Arsenic Acid 1 part
Carbonate of Potash 2 parts
Cinnamyllic Acid 3 parts
Heat this until a perfect solution is obtained, then add twenty-five parts
cognac and three parts of watery extract of opium which has been dissolved
in twenty-five parts of water filtered. Dose:--At first take six drops
after dinner and supper, gradually increasing to twenty-two drops. Mild
cases are cured in two months, but the severe cases may require a year or
two. This treatment should be given under the care of a physician, as it
is poisonous and needs close watching.
[INFECTIOUS DISEASES 213]
PHYSICIANS' TREATMENT for Consumption.--Tuberculous peritonitis is often
present. General better hygienic measures; fresh air, nourishing food;
cod-liver oil. The glands are now often cut.
Sanitary Care. Prevention of Tuberculosis.--The sputum of consumptives
should be carefully collected and destroyed. Patients should be urged not
to spit about carelessly, but always use a spit cup and never swallow the
sputum. The destruction of the sputum of consumptives should be a routine
measure in both hospitals and private practice. Thorough boiling or
putting in the fire is sufficient. It should be explained to the patient
that the only risk, practically is from this source.
The chances of infection are greatest in young children. The nursing and
care of consumptives involves very slight risks indeed, if proper
precautions are taken.
Second.--A second important measure, relates to the inspection of dairies
and slaughter houses. The possibility of the transmission of tuberculosis
by infected milk has been fully demonstrated, and in the interest of
health, the state should take measures to stamp out tuberculosis in
cattle.
Individual Prevention.--A mother with pulmonary tuberculosis should not
nurse her child. An infant born of tuberculosis parents or of a family in
which consumption prevails, should be brought up with the greatest care
and guarded most particularly against catarrhal affections of all kinds.
Special attention should be given to the throat and nose, and on the first
indication of mouth breathing or any affection of the nose, a careful
examination should be made for adenoids. The child should be clothed in
flannel, and live in the open air as much as possible, avoiding close
rooms. It is a good practice to sponge the throat and chest night and
morning with cold water. Special attention should be paid to the diet and
to the mode of feeding. The meals should be given at regular hours, and
the food plain and substantial. From the onset the child should be
encouraged to drink freely of milk. Unfortunately in these cases there
seems to be an uncontrollable aversion to fats of all kinds. As the child
grows older, systematically regulated exercise or a course of pulmonary
(lung) gymnastics may be taken. In the choice of an occupation, preference
should be given to an out of door life. Families with a predisposition to
tuberculosis should, if possible, reside in an equable climate. It would
be best for a young person belonging to such a family to remove to
Colorado or Southern California, or to some other suitable climate before
trouble begins. The trifling ailments of children should be carefully
watched. In convalescence from fevers, which so frequently prove
dangerous, the greatest care should be exercised to prevent from catching
cold. Cod-liver oil, the syrup of iodide of iron and arsenic may be given.
Enlarged tonsils should be removed. "The spontaneous healing of local
tuberculosis is an every-day affair. Many cases of adenitis (inflammation
of the glands) and disease of the bone or joints terminate favorably. The
healing of pulmonary (lung) tuberculosis is shown clinically by the
recovery of patients in whose sputa elastic tissue and bacilli have been
found."
[214 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]
General Measures.--The cure of tuberculosis is a question of nutrition;
digestion and assimilation control the situation; make a patient grow fat,
and the local disease may be left to take care of itself. There are three
indications:
First, to place the patient in surroundings most favorable for the
greatest degree of nutrition; second, to take such measures as in a local
and general way influence the tuberculosis process; third, to alleviate
the symptoms. This is effected by the open air treatment with the
necessary feeding and nursing.
At Home.--In the majority of cases patients must be treated at home. In
the city it has many disadvantages. The patient's bed should be in a room
where he can have plenty of sunshine and air. Two things are
essential--plenty of fresh air and sunshine. While there is fever he
should be at rest in bed. For the greater part of each day, unless the
weather is blustering and raining, the windows should be open. On the
bright days he can sit out-doors on a balcony or porch, in a reclining
chair. He must be in the open air all that is possible to be. A great many
patients spend most of the time out in the open air now. In the country
places this can be easily carried out. In the summer he should be out of
doors from eleven to twelve hours; in the winter six to eight at least. At
night the room should be cool and thoroughly ventilated. "In the early
stages of the disease with much fever, it may require several months of
this rest treatment to the open air before the temperature falls to
normal." The sputum is dangerous when it becomes dry. As long as sputum is
moist the germs are held in the sputum; but when it is dry they are
released and roam at will in the atmosphere and are inhaled. They are then
ready to lodge themselves in suitable soil. Always keep the sputum
(expectoration) moist, and then there is no danger.
Diet. Treatment.--The outlook in this disease depends upon the digestion.
Nausea and loss of appetite are serious obstacles. Many patients loathe
foods of all kinds. A change of air or a sea voyage may promptly restore
the appetite. When this is not possible, rest the patient, keep in the
open air nearly all day and feed regularly with small quantities either of
buttermilk, milk, or kumiss, alternating if necessary with meat juice and
egg albumin. Some cases which are disturbed by eggs and milk do well on
kumiss. Raw eggs are very suitable for feeding, and may be taken between
meals, beginning with one three times a day, and can be increased to two
and three at a time. It is hard to give a regular diet. The patient should
be under the care of a physician who will regulate the kind of diet,
amount and change. When the digestion is good there is less trouble in
feeding. Then the patient can eat meat, poultry, game, oysters, fish,
animal broths, eggs. Nothing should be fried. Avoid pork, veal, hot bread,
cakes, pies, sweet meats, rich gravies, crabs, lobsters.
[INFECTIOUS DISEASES 215]